Italy (Italian: Repubblica Italiana or Italia) is a country in southern Europe. It comprises a boot-shaped peninsula and two large islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia, and shares its northern alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia. The independent countries of San Marino and the Vatican City are enclaves within Italian territory.

For more than 3,000 years Italy witnessed many migrations and invasions from Germanic, Greek, Celtic, Franks, Byzantines, Normans, and the French Angevins, and Lombard peoples. Italy was also home to many well-known and influential civilisations, including the Etruscans and the Romans.

Ponte Fabricio, Isola Tiberina, Roma.

Ponte Vecchio, Florence.